Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) p 25
130 The energy conservation programme is delivered on behalf of HFI and the
council by the Islington Energy Centre. The objectives of this scheme is to
alleviate fuel poverty in the borough and improve the energy efficiency of the
housing stock, occupied by vulnerable tenants, by providing a package of energy
saving measures including loft and cavity wall insulation, new controls and
efficient gas central heating systems, free low energy lightbulbs and advice on
saving energy in the home.
131 In 2003/04 energy rating (SAP rating) of local authority owned dwellings was
above average at 55 and in 2004/05 the budget of £66,000 for the energy
conservation programme is on target to be spent.
Response repairs
132 In our previous inspection, we found a ten-year Joint Venture Agreement contract
with Caxton that was providing year on year improvements. There was positive
joint working with the contractor with initiatives such as the Home Zone gas
servicing pilot and local employment initiatives and schemes to involve
disaffected youths. There was a 24 hour freephone call centre for <strong>report</strong>ing
repairs that was well run and improvements made in response to user feedback.
Staff taking repairs had technical support, and Hyde Northside staff were shortly
to be co-located with the repair contractor. Urgent repairs were being completed
94 per cent of the time within target. In addition, the level of disrepair cases was
reducing.
133 However, a local repair pledge was complicated and tenants were not using it.
There was a lack of integration between IT systems that made the process of
chasing up repairs time consuming. The complexity of categorising repairs
caused confusion among tenants, the timescales and appointment provision was
basic and repairs were automatically cancelled if access was not gained. There
was a lack of evidence to indicate the accuracy of performance information on
completed repairs on target time.
134 Strengths that we had previously identified had been sustained and developed
further. Performance and satisfaction with responsive repairs continues to
improve, and the partnership with Caxton continues to thrive. However, we are
concerned about some of the qualitative aspects of the repairs service including
getting repairs right first time, the effectiveness of the post-inspection framework
and the quality and timeliness of responses to repair complaints. Overall this is
an area of strength.
135 Performance against the repairs performance indicators continues to be good;
95 per cent of urgent repairs were completed in target time in 2003/04 and HFI
has achieved top quartile performance of appointments made and kept at
97 per cent.
136 A property services division was established in October 2004 and took over
responsibility for all matters to do with the asset management of the stock. All
staff we spoke to welcomed the establishment of the division and thought this
would have a positive impact on performance and quality.
137 Effective partnership working with Caxton Islington continues. This is
demonstrated through the range of initiatives that have been introduced such as
co-location, joint continuous improvement groups, resident fun days, mobile
phones for tenant’s representatives, job swops, secondment opportunities and
joint training.